>From: International Gay Lesbian Human Rights Commission
>Date: 18 Jun 94 17:23 PDT
Russian Authorities Persecute Gay Journalist
An openly gay Russian journalist has been forced to endure a court trial,
interrogation, loss of the right to travel, and night visits from the
militia over the last nine months after he conducted a well publicized
challenge to Russia's heterosexist marriage laws. The journalist is
currently facing up to five years in prison.
Yaroslav Mogutin, a 19 year old free-lance journalist, faces charges of
"aggravated Hooliganism" under Article 206.2 of the Russian Criminal Code
for writing an article published in Nezavisimaya Gazeta containing
references to homosexuality and other "vulgar language". In addition,
Mogutin believes that pornography charges brought against the newspaper
Eshchyo last fall are connected to its publication of an interview he
conducted with Borris Moiseev, an openly gay performer in Moscow.
This harrassment from the legal authorities turned into persecution by the
local militia after Mogutin attempted to legally marry his partner, a male
artist from New York, on 12 April 1994. The gay wedding ceremony,
officially rejected by the marriage official at Wedding Palace No. 4,
received extensive coverage in the media. The following day, Mogutin and
his partner, Robert Filippini, were forced to pay 4,000 rubles (less than
$3) to several militia men who demanded to see documentation of Filippini's
right to rent his apartment.
That same night, two different militia men came to the apartment in
response to a neighbor's supposed complaints that Filippini is homosexual,
entertains "young guests," and carries on "orgies". One of the militiamen,
according to Mogutin, threatened to send the gay couple off to a
"psychiatric ward" and said that "the embassy cannot help." Over the course
of the next few days, the same militiaman who made the initial threats left
obscene messages on the couple answering machine, and eventually demanded
$150, which the couple paid. After Filippini made an official complaint to
the local militia department, the visits ceased.
Mogutin has responded to the legal harassment by soliciting the help of
Genrikh Padva, one of the most famous dissident lawyers in Russia, and by
organizing public protest letters to over 60 famous actors, artists,
journalists and other well known figures. Nevertheless, Mogutin feels the
legal proceedings have become more aggressive following the wedding and
court trial in April.
Urgent letters are needed making the following points:
1. Use of government resources to harass citizens who advocate for gay and
lesbian rights is a blatant violation of the right to free speech. No
journalist should have to consider the threat of government persecution
before he or she writes a story.
2. Mogutin and Filippini's application for marriage constituted a political
act of protest against heterosexist laws that deny gay men and lesbians
access to the same privileges that heterosexuals enjoy. If the Russian
government was embarrassed by the amount of news coverage the incident
garnered, they should move to ensure equality for its lesbian and gay
citizens and not punish the bearers of such an important political message.
3. Russia's claims to be a democracy are severely undercut when this sort
of harassment and legal persecution against political dissidents is allowed
to continue. The government of the Russian Federation can best demonstrate
the differences between it and the previous Soviet regime by allowing for
the free exchange of political ideas.
Write to:
Mr. A. N. Selikhovkin, Procuror Rayona, Procuratura Krasnopres. Rayona,
Krasnaya presnya, 10, Moscow 123376, Russia
Mr. Ponamarev, Procuror, Moscow, Mosgorprokuratura, Novokuznetskaya ul. 27,
Moscow 113184, RUSSIA
Mr. A. Ilyushenko, General Procuror of the RF, Pushinskaya ul., 15a, Moscow
103793, RUSSIA